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[Alexandr Korol]

I don’t know the phrase “Lose your soul to gain it.” I haven’t read it. I’ve heard the saying, “A person begins to value oxygen only when it’s taken away.” When someone loses themselves in their ego and thinks they’re great, and if you, as their boss, fire them, they’ll quickly return to their roots, maybe back to their parents in the village, and realize that they aren’t as great as they thought. They sit there at the bottom for years. I think this relates to valuing something only when it’s gone. As for self-denial, what can I say? I’ve always disliked the word and felt uncomfortable whenever I heard it or saw it online, on social media, or in films. It’s usually associated with psychologically unstable people who torment themselves or forbid things to the point of fanaticism. I’ve never leaned toward extremes. I’ve always thought that any extreme, in any direction, is wild. There are people who lick sacred statues and hit their heads against walls while praying daily, and there are those who deprive themselves of everything and starve themselves to death. I believe both of these are wild extremes and over- the-top behavior. For a long time, self-denial made me think of something extreme, bizarre, and for psychologically unstable people.
But people have just misunderstood the true meaning of the word. Self-denial, in a more proper sense, refers to someone who tries to live a more restrained life. But that doesn’t mean they’re so restricted that they’re starving. They are simply moderate. Many people, especially now, are led astray by indulgence. You go to a store, and there are 20 kinds of butter, but there should only be one. Why are there 20? What’s the point? It’s because everyone wants to sell their butter, which is fine, but why do people need so many choices? All types of chocolate – this is all part of what I call the fragmented matrix. To me, self-denial, in a healthy and rational sense, is about moderation. You don’t eat just because you can, or because you have a lot of money and a wide selection of food. Even with all these possibilities, you still eat only the small amount necessary to nourish your body and stay healthy. That’s how I understand sensible self-denial. It’s like I wrote before: even if your circumstances change – say you got promoted or now work from home instead of waking up at 6 a.m. for a labor-intensive job – that doesn’t mean you should start sleeping in until 10 a.m. The point is that you should still get up early, still engage in productive work, and continue to strive. Self-denial is about moderation in everything.
You decided that maybe it’s worth going for a walk, but you shouldn’t do it every day. You can do it once a week, but no more. Twice a week is too much. I know how the system works. If you go for a walk more than once or twice a week,